THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



489 



Bee Battles and Robbing- 

 Mr. A. Pettigrew gives the follow- 

 ing on the above subject in the Lon- 

 don Journal of Horticulture : 



Thieving scouts and skirmishing 

 parties are common in all apiaries, 

 and hard-fought battles are occa- 

 sionally seen there, and plunder is the 

 object. Robbing bees are watchful 

 and crafty in attempting to enter 

 hives not their own, and experienced 

 bee-masters know them by their con- 

 duct. In watching for an opportu- 

 nity to enter hives unobserved, they 

 fly differently from bees engaged at 

 honest work, and may be seen "stand- 

 ing on wing " in front of and close to 

 the doors of hives they wish to enter, 

 and if their attempts to enter be not 

 resisted and thwarted they speedily 

 accomplish their aims and carry home 

 the honey. As soon as they gain 

 access to it they convey to their own 

 community the idea that a hive has 

 been entered and honey may be had. 

 The way in which the intelligence is 

 conveyed is beyond our knowledge ; 

 all we here notice is the fact. The 

 thieves of London know what " a 

 cracked shell" means (a house broken 

 into), and bees know what is meant 

 by a hive undefended ; and with mar- 

 vellous rapidity the unresisting bees 

 lose all their treasures. 



Fortunately robbers are generally 

 prevented from entering hives on 

 their first attempt to do so. It may 

 safely be asserted that in every hun- 

 dred attempts to enter hives for 

 plunder, ninety-nine are failures. 

 When hives are weak their doors are 

 often not well guarded, and robbers 

 enter, and sometimes the robbers kill 

 the whole of the small force of de- 

 fenders. Strong hives, during a glut 

 of honey, are sometimes off their 

 guard, and let their hives be invaded, 

 and if the robber bees are permitted 

 to go in and out without hindrance 

 for a short time they, generally speak- 

 ing, take all the honey. Successful 

 robberies of strong hives are not com- 

 mon. The robbers are generally dis- 

 covered before they have done much 

 harm — before tbey have lost the smell 

 of strangers and foreigners, and when 

 the discovery is made the bees of the 

 invaded hive muster in strength to 

 resist the invasion and make a de- 

 termined stand against it. As some 

 of the robbers have tasted the honey 

 and carried off some booty, they are 

 determined to have more, and are 

 difficult to beat back. In their ef- 

 forts to ejiter, the attacking force 

 seems to increase in numbers and 

 energy, and while hundreds of them 

 are hurled back and off the flight- 

 boards, hundreds more take their 

 places, and courageously and per- 

 sistently continue the attempt to take 

 the place by storm. A well-fought 

 bee battle is most interesting. If the 

 door of the hive be rather small, and 

 the robbers successfully resisted for a 

 while (none allowed to enter), they 

 give up the contest and retreat. 



When a hive is attacked by robbers 

 all the bee master can do is to con- 

 tract the door, and thus make it more 

 easy for the bees to defend it. If he 



sees the robbers are resisted and re- 

 pelled, he may know that they are so 

 tar unsuccessful, and if he find that 

 robbers have gained access to a hive 

 and are engaged in carrying off its 

 honey without resistance, he should 

 know that it can be saved by removal 

 only to a distance of a mile or two for 

 a time. If the robbing bees belong to 

 the same apiary as those that are 

 being robbed, the suggested manoe- 

 uvre of Quinby may be tried. His 

 plan is simply to exchange the posi- 

 tions of the hives by puttmg the rob- 

 bers on the stand of the hive they 

 steal from, and vice versa, and thus 

 confound the robbers. My opinion 

 is, that bees are too clever to be out- 

 witted by this. Our plan is to remove 

 one of the hives to a distance of one 

 or two miles. 



Honey and Bee Show at Hancock, 

 Co., Indiana, Fair. 



The Indiana Farmer gives the fol- 

 lowing report of the above : 



As per-previous notice the regular 

 monthly meeting of the Hancock 

 County Bee-Keepers' Society, in con- 

 nection with brother bee-keepers 

 from adjoining counties was turned 

 into a regular fair for the benefit of 

 all interested. There was a good dis- 

 play of all the appliances necessary to 

 modern bee-culture, besides a good 

 showing of the products of the apiary 

 for the present season. 



The President of the society, Mr. 

 Alonzo Tyner, exhibited an extractor, 

 hive, section boxes, frames of wired 

 foundation fully drawn out, a nice lot 

 of honey, botli comb and extracted, 

 also a jar of preserves made with 

 honey, which were very fine. 



Dr. S. S. Boots showed a hive, ex- 

 tracted honey, and vinegar made from 

 honey. 



J. W. Jones brought in one of the 

 old style of hives, also a chaff hive 

 made by W. T. Falkoner, of James- 

 town, N. Y ., and a sample of founda- 

 tion from J. Van Dusen & Sons, of 

 Sprout Brook, N. Y. 



J. T. Cofiin exhibited a fine lot of 

 honey in several shapes best suited to 

 the trade. 



The best showing was made by Mr. 

 N. D. Coffin, who had on exhibition 

 honey, both comb and extracted, 

 vinegar, wired foundation in the sev- 

 eral stages of being drawn out, and 

 all the necessary tools for use in the 

 apiary, besides a complete selection of 

 all the producing plants native to this 

 part of the country. 



Mr. Geo. Cole, of Shelby county, 

 showed some very nice queens in cages. 



Tlie regular meeting of the county 

 society was opened and closed in a 

 very short time to give all present a 

 chance to talk and examine into the 

 merits and conveniences of the arti- 

 cles on exhibition. The meeting was 

 a very enjoyable gathering of bee- 

 keepers, and all seemed pleased at the 

 result. 



H^ The fall meeting of the Kew 

 Jersey and Eastern Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held in the city of 

 New York, at the Cooper Union, on 

 Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1883. 



J. Hasbrouck, Sec. 



Bound Brook, N. J. 



1^ The Bee-Keepers' Association 

 of Central Illinois will hold its next 

 meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 10 

 a. m., at 205 South Main street, city of 

 Bloomington. All interested, in this 

 and adjoining counties, are invited 

 to attend. 



J. L. WOLCOTT, Pres. 



Jasies Poindexter, Sec. 



Honey and Beeswax Market. 



Ribbon Badges, for bee-keepers, on 

 which are printed a large bee m gold, 

 we send for 10 cts. each, or $8 per 100. 



OFFICE OF AMERICAN BKE JOUBNAL, ) 



Monday, 10 a. m., Oct. 1 , 18S3. S 



The following are the latest quota- 

 tions for honey and beeswax received 

 up to this hour : 



CINCINNATI. 



HONEY— The demand for extracted honey iB 

 exceedlDKly dull ; for comb honey, only fair: arri- 

 vals are plentiful. Stocks are large In the hands 

 of corn merchants and others. Our own supply is 

 larger than ever, and. for the present, we cannot 

 compete with commission merchants. We may 

 have to offer lower figures. Our prices so far were 7® 

 9c. for e.vtracted, and 14<§tl6c. for comb honey on 

 arrival. 



BKESWAX-Arrivals of beeswax are good at 

 25@28c., and the demand is fair. 



CHAS. F. M0TH. 



NEW YORK. 



HONEY— White clover and basswood in 1 and 2 

 lb. sections, 18c. Darli and second quality, 14c.: 

 extracted white clover in kegs and barrels, lie; 

 dark, sc. 



BEBSWAX-Prlme yellow, 30®;ilc. 



H. K. & F. B. THDRBER & C«. 



CHICAGO. 



HONEY- Comb honey has sold freely for the 

 past two weeks, and stocks are at present low. 1 lb. 

 sectionsof white comb are bringing l«c. ; il4 U> 2 

 lb. sections of same quality, I6(»17c.; variousslzed 

 sections of white comb, L.=.<s)16c. Extracted honey 

 is selling faster, and prices are ranging from 8@10 

 cts. per pound, according to body and flavor. 



BEBSWA."C- Yellow, 32i333c.; dark, 25c.! me- 

 dium, 30c. „ 



R. A. BtJRNETT, 161 South Water St. 

 SAN FRANCISCO. 



HONE Y— There Is a fair jobbing trade. Offerings 

 are not large. Choice qualities command extreme 

 figures While to extra wblle comb, I6(gj20c.; dark 

 to good, io«i*i3Hc.: Extracted, choice to extra 

 white. HidittHc. : dark and candied, 6^^7>^c. 



BEESWAX— Wholesale, 27<ai28c. 



STEARNS & SMITH, ii'i Front street. 



ST. L0DI8. 



HONEY — Quiet. Salable at appended figures, 

 but generally held higher. Strained and extracted 

 at 6'4f«.7c.; comb at 14c. 



BilESWAX- Ready salable at 2Ge. for prime. 



W. T. ANDERSON & CO.. 104 N. 3d Street, 



CLBTELANO. 



HONE Y— Comes very slowly and sells as fast afl 

 It comes at 18@i9c. for best white in I lb. sections, 

 and 17®l8c. for 2 lb. sections. Second quality is 

 very slow. Extracted usually sells very slowly In 

 our market; as yet, no extracted has been received. 



BEESWAX- None in Market. 



A. C. KENDEL, 115 Ontario Street. 



BOSTON. 



HONEY— We quote our market at is@20c. for 

 1 lb. white clover; 18®19c. for 2 lb. white clover. 

 Extracted is in good supply, and selling from 

 9®10c. 



BEESWAX— Our supply IB gone! we have none 

 to quote. 



BLAKE & RIPLEY, 57 Chatham Street. 



